Henry s



H. S. STRAUSS.

(No Model.)

CORSET. V I

Patented Aug. 18, 1885.

N. PETERS. PholoLilhngnpher. Wishinghzn, DC.

struction of parts hereinafter more particu- UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE.

HENRY S. STRAUSS, OF NEl/V YORK, N. Y.

CORSET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 324,497, dated August 18, 1885.

Application filed April 20, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, HENRY S. STRAUSS, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, and county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Corsets, of which the following is a specification.

Myinvention relates to the parts of the corset which constitute the side pieces, and which in the generality of corsets extend from the upper to the lower edges of the corset under the arms; and my invention consists in the peculiar combination, arrangement, and conlarly describedand claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, the single figure represents one half or side of a corset, both parts being exactly alike in side elevation.

The part of the corset to which my invention applies, and the form and construction of the same, will be described in connection with the drawing and the letters of referencethereon.

The front and back steels, which constitute the edges of the corset at the vertical openings of the corset, are shown at A A. About midway between these openings upon the sides of the corset which are under the arms, or near- 1y so, the vertical pieces of the fabric or cloth of which the body of the corset is composed, instead of being made to extend the whole length of the corset, as is usually the case, are made short, so as to extend, one from the upper and the other from the lower edge of the corset, but part of the distance. These parts are shown in the drawing at a ba representing the upper piece, I) the lower. These parts a b are provided with short stays or springs, inserted vertically within thepockets of the corset in the usual manner. 0 represents the opening between the interior ends of the parts a b. It extends vertically about one-third of the height of the corset. The parts a b are sewed to the adjoining pieces of the corset at their side edges in the usual manner, and are made slightly tapering in order to preserve the due shape of the corset. Across the opening 0 are placed the horizontal elastic pieces at d, which may be composed of india-rubber cloth, elastic webbing, or similar elastic mate rial; The ends of the elastic pieces (I d are sewed into the adjoining side pieces of the corset, and adjusted so that when contracted or at rest the parts a b will have fullness vertically, or be slightly corrugated, to allow of the play or movement of the other parts of the corset upon this elastic portion of the corset just described.

It will be observed that there are lines of stays or stiffeners in both back and front pieces at 66, by which means the elastic straps, while acting mostly at the center, exert their force to a considerable extent all the way from the top to the bottom of the corset, and not upon the waist alone, as they would but for these stays.

The operation of my improved construction of corsets is this, that when by the movement of the body a horizontal strain takes effect upon the upper portion of the corset, the up. per part or short piece a, and the upper elastic piece, d, will yield and give the corset power to expand in its upper portion, while the lower short piece, b, and elastic webbing d, will allow a movement or expansion of the lower part of the corset or a contraction thereof; and when the strain is upon the lower part of the corset the upper then yields or contracts to meet the requirements of the movement of the body, and the effect is that the upper and lower parts of the corset play or move upon an elastic central portion of the opening of the corset, thereby greatly increasing the freedom of action and the comfort and pleasure of the wearer.

The opening a in the corset described above I believe to be the more desirable mode of carrying out myinvention; but it is obvious that instead of an entirely open space that part may have inserted therein a corrugated or plaited light fabric, which will allow of very nearly the same effect as when the space is left open. Silk or satin or other fabric, of bright fanciful colors and patterns, may be used to add to the ornamental appearance of the corset; but I prefer the opening to be left free, especially in corsets for summer wear, as it will afford a greater coolness under the corsets to the wearer.

I deem my invention an improvement on corsets in which there is a strip of elastic material all around the body dividing the inelastic material of the corset horizontally, as in the English Patent No. 3,118, of 1867; and

also over those in which there is an inelastic portion at the center of the waist and an elastic portion at the top and bottom, as in the United States Patent No. 226,286, for in the first ease, owing to the want of stiffness in the elastic material, the bones used to stiffen the corset soon become very troublesome to the wearer by pressing into the waist, and, moreover, such corsets never retain their shape long; and where there is an inelastic piece in the center, as in Patent No. 226,286, the very portion that requires most freedom is left ti ghtly bound up, whereas in my case, while the abdomen is restrained from undue protuberance, the waist is left comparatively free.

Having thus described my improvements in corsets, and the manner of constructing the same, and their operation, I claim therein as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- In a corset, the back and front pieces there of formed of inelastic material, provided with stays extending above, below, and across the waist-line, and arranged at adistance from the stays of the back and fl ont openings, said back and front pieces being connected at the top under the arm and at the bottom over the hip by inelastic pieces a I), in combination with elastic material joined to the vertical edges of the back and front pieces, and uniting them at the waist intermediate of said inelastic pieces a b, substantially as described.

HENRY S. STRAUSS. lVitnesses:

Lnvr WEINGARTEN, M. RAPPAPORT. 

